The builders are adding the finishing touches to the new Daniel Boone Elementary School.

At the October monthly meeting of the Warren County R-III School Board, Matt McDermott of Hoener Architects briefed attendees on the project, which is in its final stages.

“This is my last report and, first and foremost, I want to say how privileged and honored we are to work with you guys,” McDermott said. “It has been a first-class opportunity and the project turned out really well and we’re just pleased and thankful that we got to work with your team on this project.”

From the initial bid in September 2024 to completion scheduled for early November this year, McDermott said the project has gone well.

“The target for the substantial completion has been Nov. 6,” McDermott said. “They are on target for that, actually it is (running) about a week ahead of time.”

While Early Childhood classes currently use part of the classrooms and will continue to do so for the rest of the school year, the building will be fully operational at the start of the 2027-28 term.

McDermott said cooperation among all parties, from district officials to the contractor, has kept the process running smoothly.

McDermott added that there is some work left to be done on flooring, the stage and in adding bleachers to the gymnasium, but those won’t affect that projected end date.

“The contractor is going to come in and clean up paint smudges and things like that,” McDermott said. “They’re going to get the tools out of there, get everything cleaned up. They’re fine-tuning the heating and cooling. Overall picture, by the end of the month the building will be in great shape.”

Another finishing touch recently begun is a sidewalk running from the road to the building's entryway.

“They have started putting in the sidewalk, taking you from the bus lot down to Ash Road,” McDermott said. “It will be a four-foot-wide sidewalk, so the kids can ride their bikes up to the school, or walk up to the school for any walkers from the neighboring subdivision. So that work is started and is underway.”

McDermott then ran through the project's financial summary.

He said that the original price of $33,845,000 increased to $35,229,064.61.

“It jumped up a little bit because you had funds to add that classroom addition we added a couple of months after construction started,” McDermott said. “We didn’t have any challenges with site conditions, so that number went to 35. The big picture is that the project allowance is at $338,000 and some change. That money will come back to you as a credit and you can use that for your playground.”

The area that drew the most discussion among board members at the meeting was the proposed playground construction.

“You’re looking at putting in the playground off to the right of the storm shelter,” McDermott said. “There will be a section of concrete that will work as overflow parking and will serve as the basketball courts for the kids during the day. There will also be typical playground equipment.”

The board tabled any action to purchase the concrete needed for the slab for the additional parking/basketball court and the playground equipment until the November meeting, as the exact purchase details will be ironed out.

“We can (undertake the project approval in November) or we can just delay the whole thing until springtime,” Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith said. “The prices will go up.”

“You’re not asking us to approve anything specific tonight because you don’t have any specific numbers?” Board member Franci Schwartz asked Klinginsmith. “We’re trying to get this done sooner, if we could, because prices always go up.”